HANDING OVER THE REINS

Senior golfer Lynsey Barnard ended her Midwest Conference career the way she started it – with an all-conference performance.

Playing at the MWC Tournament at Aldeen Golf Course in Rockford, Ill., the Fighting Scots finished the 54-hole tournament in sixth place after carding rounds of 409-411-407-1227. Carroll won the meet, firing a 357 during the rain-soaked first round to lead by more than 30 strokes. The Pioneers maintained that margin over the final two rounds to win their first league title.

Individually for the Scots, Barnard placed eighth to earn her second all-conference honor. She picked up her first all-conference award her sophomore year after taking her freshman year off from the sport, Barnard opened with a 92 and followed with scores of 97 and 96 to finish with a 285.

“That was her goal,” said Molly McNamara of Barnard’s all-conference end to her career. “She would have liked to have finished a bit higher. She had higher expectations of herself, but she relied on her mental toughness when she wasn’t playing her absolute best. She had a couple of holes that may have dramatically changed her score.”

With Barnard’s upcoming graduation this spring, it looks like freshman Nicole Hurst will be the heir apparent. Hurst fought off first day problems and dropped strokes each day. After opening with a 110, Hurst checked in with a 99 and 94 over the final two rounds for a 303, just two strokes in front of teammate Kristin Humphrey. The junior opened with a 96, but jumped to a 100-109 over the last two days to finish the tournament at 305.

“Nicole did a nice job of shaking off the freshman jitters after the first round,” said McNamara. “We’ll need her to be the leader in the spring and next fall. She has every physical aspect of the game. She just needs some improvement on the mental part of it and gain the confidence to consistently play well and contend for the conference title. Kristin felt good about where she was after the first round, but then lost her swing. She, obviously, was disappointed in her finish.”

Playing in her final conference tournament, senior Kendra Catterton finished the final round with a 108 – her best score of the weekend. Catterton opened with a 111-115 and carded a 54-hole total of 334. First-year golfer, junior Kayla Winbigler checked in with a 398, after fighting off second-day problems. She carded rounds of 128-145-125.

“Kayla and Kendra both stepped up when we needed them to,” praised McNamara. “We needed someone to be a fifth player and Kayla filled that role. Kendra steadily improved over her four years and did whatever needed to be done for the good of the team. Throughout her career, she played with injuries simply because we needed that fifth player.”

Cold, wet conditions over the weekend saw the Scots shoot their highest 18 hole scores of the season. The Aldeen Course – the permanent home for the Midwest Conference women’s tournament – was held at the course for the first time this season.

“After seeing the course, I wasn’t incredibly surprised by all the teams’ higher scores,” said McNamara. “It’s not a very forgiving course, so it really separates the average golfer from the cream of the crop. It’s more of a championship-caliber course which is what we need since the conference champion gets an automatic NCAA Championship berth.”

Winning a conference title and the NCAA berth that goes with it is on McNamara’s list of “Things to do” next season – as well as find replacements for a pair of valuable seniors.

YE OLDE RACE

Not that the cross country team would ever see this layout in the conference meet, but Saturday’s Olde English Classic Invitational hosted by Beloit College was apparently to their liking.

The Fighting Scots won both the men’s and women’s races and each race mirrored the other on a course that featured a few straw bale obstacles and three exceptionally long water jumps over a meandering creek.

“The kids really enjoyed it,” reported Roger Haynes who broke from his routine just a bit. “We didn’t discuss a race plan prior to the meet, but they handled it well. It was a physically challenging course, but it was something different and fun for them. It also fit in well with our training plan.”

Geoff Bird led from start-to-finish, just in front of teammate Jon Welty. Mary Kate Beyer led all the way for the women where Katie Staab placed second.

Beyer, especially, thrived. The junior ran a Monmouth course record of 19:43.8 – more than two minutes faster than the Scots’ previous time on the course.

Staab was second for the women at 20:11.5 and Taryn Bautista clocked a 21:01.8 to finish sixth. The Scots placed all 10 runners in the top third of the field as Rachel Bowden was just 12 seconds behind Bautista. Amy Aghababian and Brittney Frazier were 11-12, Bri Flynn took 15th, followed by Whitney Didier in 18th, Tori Beaty 19th and Marlee Lane 22nd.

“Katie had a very solid race,” reported Haynes. “She really came on in the second half of the race. Taryn, Rachel and Amy also ran strong second-half races.”

Like the women, the men also placed all their runners in the top third. Bird’s 27:06.0 paced the Scots, just four second ahead of Welty. Jake Barr led a mini-pack in 9th with a time of 28:00.0 followed by Damon Bautista in 10th and Alan Rosiquez in 12th.

“The guys ran really well,” praised Haynes. “We were minus Paul Davies and Connor Shields, but the rest of the guys picked it up. Jake, Alan and Damon ran good races as did Geoff and Jon. It was Damon’s second race of the year and he ran much better than a week ago.”

The larger pack was paced by Craig Maher, Matt Gatlin and Nate Jones who placed 21st, 22nd and 23rd. Tim Bentz and Brian Daly were right behind in 25th and 26th positions.

“The obstacles and water jumps slowed the course substantially,” said Haynes. “The kids worry more about their time than I do. I worry about who we raced on that day and how we faired against individuals. This course is obviously different than the course we’ll run at the conference meet.”

Beloit will play host to the Midwest Conference Championships at the end of the month, but will run that event on a different course. Before that happens, the Scots will travel to Oshkosh, Wis., next week for their final tuneup.

“I’m excited for the Oshkosh meet,” said Haynes. “We should have all our men and women ready to go. I’m anxious to see how we fair with a full contingent.”

(MATT) BATTON DOWN THE HATCHES

OK, so freshman kicker Matt Batton only scored three of the Scots’ 59 points in a 59-0 rout of Grinnell last Saturday, but the Scoop couldn’t resist using that headline.

However, the Pioneers DID need to batten down the hatches after the Scots overran their opponents at April Zorn Memorial Stadium. Grinnell must have felt as they were in the midst of Hurricane Monmouth. A school-record 42 point first quarter took all the suspense out of it early. The Fighting Scots scored on six of their first five offensive possessions.

Wait a minute. Did Scots Scoop miss math class? Six of five? What gives?

Luke Reschke and the rest of the Scots’ defense is what gives – as in fits to the Grinnell offense. Reschke intercepted a pass on the Pioneers’ third possession and ran it back 37 yards for his first career TD. The Scots were busy sacking Grinnell quarterbacks four times and picking off five passes. Not a good day to be a Pioneer QB.

“We played exceptionally well defensively,” reported Steve Bell. “We got the ball on a short field and took advantage. Any time you’re on the plus side on turnovers, you’ve got a chance to win. I’d say we were pretty efficient across the board – defense, offense and special teams. Our kickoff coverage was exceptional.”

Exceptional?

That could also be used to describe the entire day. Caleb Pratt had the best day of his season. The sophomore running back scored three touchdowns (one a 52-yard scamper) and rushed for 140 yards. Alex Tanney connected on over 70 percent of his passes with three TDs and tight end Kramer Matzen had a team-high 79 yards receiving. Adam Hoste logged nine tackles and Anthony Goranson recorded a pair of sacks.

And now the scoring summary: Pratt’s first two TDs came on one-yard runs, Matt Shepherd hauled in a 19-yard Tanney pass, Reschke scored on the interception, Mike Blodgett caught Tanney’s seven yard TD toss and Nick Law added a six yard run….all in the first quarter. Kyle Wantland added a TD reception just before halftime and Pratt added his final TD in the third quarter. Oh, and Batton’s chip shot field goal in the fourth quarter, but more on that later.

“Caleb ran the ball VERY well,” said Bell. “Nick gave us some great runs. The line did a good job opening up some holes to get our backs into the open field. We absolutely needed the running game to work to keep us from being one-dimensional.”

While the offense was being multi-dimensional, the defense was thinking in one dimension and one speed – fast forward.

“Our defensive front four did a great job of pressuring the quarterback,” reported Bell. “When the front four plays well, it sets up the rest of the defense. Coach (Chad) Braun had a nice defensive scheme drawn up. Our guys were in the right spots at the right times.”

Leading 56-0 in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, the Scots faced a fourth-and-four from the Grinnell 34-yard line. Decision time for Bell.

Punt? It’s awfully close.

Go for it? On the day, the Scots had averaged eight yards per catch and five yards per rush, but…

How about a field goal try? It would be a 51-yarder…a school record…during rain…into a cross wind…with a freshman. Heck, why not give it a try? Kicking coach Nate Palkovic hit a school-record 46-yarder back in ’07.

Here’s the snap, the placement is down, the kick is up and……IT’S GOOD! A school-record field goal. Barely.

As the ball inched its way over the crossbar, the officials signaled “Good” and the Scots began a wild celebration from the sidelines while the sturdy fans who endured a cold, wet afternoon roared their approval…or maybe just trying to get feeling back in their hands.

Here’s the best part.

“He didn’t know how long it was,” reported Palkovic of the record-setting kick.

Maybe that was a good thing.

“We wanted it that way,” said special teams coach Dave Ragone. “We’ll keep the kickers in the dark so they won’t think about it. Just kick.”

 So, how big of a gamble was the record-setting kick?

“It was a situation where we didn’t want to throw at that point in the game and we felt it was too far to try run for a first down,” explained Bell of his decision to give the freshman a crack. “We thought we’d give him a shot. He’s got a good leg, so it was a matter of hitting it clean. We would have made the same decision if it had been 10 yards closer.”

Not that the outcome was in doubt at that point.

There’s no doubt this weekend’s Homecoming matchup with St. Norbert is one fans will want to see. While Bell and his staff have stressed the one-game-at-a-time mentality, Saturday’s affair has been highly anticipated by fans on both sides. That – and Homecoming Weekend – should create a large crowd.

The D3football.com chat room was unusually busy in the early part of the week in anticipation of the matchup. Seems the posters are about evenly split on their support and predicted outcome of what one calls “The MWC Game of the Decade” (thanks, Scottie). One even suggested an MWC Bye Week for the other eight teams so they could all watch the Green Knights-Scots matchup.

It should be interesting – the Scots and Green Knights either lead, or are among the leaders, in most of the conference’s statistical categories. One stat did jump out about the Scots – ranked 12th by both D3football.com and the AFCA coaches’ poll.

Through five games, the Scots have recovered 11 of 12 opponent fumbles. Count ‘em – 11 of 12. Note to self: Don’t fumble.

“We work on that every week,” said Bell. “We want to be on the positive side of turnovers.”

They have been…and they lead Division III with a 3.40 turnover margin.

For those fans who won’t be able to attend in person, a reminder to check out MWCTV for live audio and video coverage of the game which kicks off at 1 p.m. To access MWCTV, fans should log on to www.midwestconference.tv.

KICKING IT INTO GEAR

The philosophy that “Everybody is 0-0 in the conference season” is paying dividends for the women’s soccer team.

The Scots are 1-0-1 after two Midwest Conference matches. They opened the season two weeks ago with a 1-1 tie at Grinnell and followed that with a 1-0 win last Saturday at Illinois College. Sandwiched in between was a 3-0 loss to fifth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan last Wednesday.

“Our non-conference schedule really toughened us up for conference,” said Barry McNamara. “Especially, the Wesleyan match. Our players did very well in that game against a national-caliber team. Defensively, we played really well, especially at midfield and in goal. It was a confidence-booster.”

The Scots’ confidence level must have gotten a boost in conference play after last weekend’s narrow win at Illinois College when assist leader Lauren Vana connected with scoring leader Kerry Kost for the only goal of the match in the 31st minute.

“That was a nice finish off of a nice pass,” praised McNamara. “We felt if we could get one more in the second half that would give us some breathing room. They were within one break of tying it up the rest of the game.”

Katerina Meletis – making her first collegiate start in goal – made sure Illinois College didn’t send the game into overtime. Meletis’ second-half save on the Lady Blues’ only shot on goal preserved the win and gave Meletis her first career victory. The Scots defense was stifling, allowing only four shots over 90 minutes of play.

“We stressed to the women coming out strong and playing well early,” said McNamara. “With the exception of only scoring once, that was a nearly perfect first half. IC had no shots and did not threaten in the first half. Katerina knew she had to go 90 minutes, and she responded.”

The Scots also got other valuable contributions off the bench. Reserve midfielder Camille San German was brought in to shut down the Lady Blues’ fastest and most dangerous player.

“Camille was able to come in and run with her,” said McNamara of defending soccer, tennis and track standout Candy Norville. “That was a plus. We’ve been playing at a pretty high level all season. Going into the season, with a veteran defensive unit returning, we knew we’d have to hang our hat on the defense. We knew our offense wouldn’t be explosive. So far, in two conference games we’ve found just enough offense.”

McNamara is hoping for more goals this weekend when the team meets Ripon Saturday and conference-favorite Carroll Sunday in what he terms a “crucial” weekend.

“Our conference has now gone crazy,” claimed McNamara. “Ripon was picked eighth in the preseason poll and just beat the No. 2 pick, St. Norbert. Knox was picked 10th, but they’ve got some talent and played very well in the game I saw. The lower half teams have gotten a lot better and the upper echelon teams have come back to the pack. Carroll is the lone exception. They’ve kind of separated themselves from the rest. We expect to have a lot of close games the rest of the way.”

Close games are OK, a win still counts for three points in the conference standings, regardless of the margin of victory. Of course, in the event of a tie, goal differential could determine the conference tournament seeds.

Hmmm, on second thought, maybe the Scoop wants some blowouts…as long as the Scots are on the winning side.

CRUNCH TIME

With just four conference matches remaining, it’s crunch time for the volleyball team.

A 1-2 week in Midwest Conference play has put the Scots in fifth place in the conference at 2-3 and backed the Scots into a corner as they fight for one of only four MWC tournament berths. All three matches went the full five sets, but only a 3-2 win over Carroll last Saturday helped the Scots in the league standings. The good news is that Monmouth has played more matches than the four teams above them in the standings. With just four spots available for the league tournament, Kari Shimmin knows the time for the Scots to punch their ticket is now.

“This is the separation weekend,” claimed Shimmin. “We have to make our stand now and move into the top four, or at least put some distance between us and the lower half.”

It all started with a loss last Friday to Ripon. Three of the four sets were decided by three points or less and one was by five. Saturday’s scenario played out in much the same way, except the Scots came out on top. Only a 25-14 second set Monmouth win broke the mold of tight sets – the other four were decided by five points or less and one went extra points.

“In all of those games they played with such heart and determination,” said Shimmin of the trio of games. “It wasn’t just one thing or one person. We shot ourselves in the foot when we had the momentum. We made a variety of mistakes at crucial times. We’re just making some youthful mistakes.”

The youthful mistakes turned into veteran experience Tuesday in yet another hard-fought loss. After dropping the first set 25-14 to Grinnell, the Scots came roaring back with wins in Sets 2 and 3. A Pioneer win in Set 4 evened the match, setting up the final set…no pun intended.

The fifth set tie-breaker is played to 15, but the Scots and Pioneers were having so much fun, they played to 17. Unfortunately for the Scots, Grinnell came out on the winning end despite furious rallies over the final few points. The Scots actually trailed 10-8 and Grinnell had the serve, but a side-out kept the Scots rolling.

“We played the best defense I’ve ever seen them play,” praised Shimmin. “The improvement we made from the first time we played Grinnell in September has been incredible. We handled their best hitter much better and we defended much better.”

The Scots were a blocking machine against the Pioneers. Kendra Newlon led with six total blocks and freshman Claire Hermie added five. Of course, the Scots didn’t stop there, another freshman – Chelsey Widdop – led the offense with a dozen kills (she had 15 against Carroll), Alicia Yeakey and Hermie added 10 each.

“Alicia has made a great transition from a middle hitter to the right side,” praised Shimmin of her transfer player who averaged nine kills over the last three matches. “She’s gotten great touches, she’s blocked and adjusted well.”

Shimmin has also gotten solid contributions from her two seniors – libero Sara Schoon and setter Alexis Keller.

“Sara has been very consistent for us on defense,” said Shimmin. “Alexis has emerged as the emotional leader. She’s been very positive and pumps up our younger players.”

Shimmin is hoping that positive attitude translates into a positive outcome this weekend when the Scots host Lawrence and St. Norbert – two teams ahead of them in the standings. Both squads enter the weekend unbeaten in conference play.

“VERY,” was Shimmin’s simple response to the importance of the weekend. “We feel like we have a bit of an advantage playing at home as part of Homecoming Weekend, but we’re focusing on playing one game at a time. We feel the last three matches have just been a case of getting one break, one point to turn it around.”

Lawrence, St. Norbert, Beloit and Ripon – the four teams above the Scots in the standings – all have six or seven matches left in conference play. Shimmin is hoping a weekend sweep combined with the current top four knocking each other off will add up to a tournament berth for Monmouth next month.

STEPPING STONES

Tennis, like golf, is both a team and an individual sport.

While the women’s tennis team as a unit has fallen on hard times in the last few weeks, some of Patrick Montgomery’s women have raised their games as individuals. The Scots fell 9-0 Sunday to Lake Forest and dropped a 5-4 non-conference match with Knox Tuesday.

Kimi Wegner was the lone Scot to battle through three sets against Lake Forest. The No. 2 singles player lost the opening set 7-5, but battled back to a 6-4 second set win before succumbing in the tie-breaker 10-4.

Amy Unzicker at No. 1 singles, was surprised by Foresters’ freshman phenom, Melika Celebic and won just one game in two sets. Celebic had earlier this season defeated the defending Midwest Conference champion from Lawrence.

“The No. 1 spot in the conference has at least four very good players who could all win the championship,” explained Montgomery. “Amy is a very good player, but she saw some shots and a style of play that she hadn’t seen before. We’ll begin working on attacking different styles of play.”

The Wegner-Unzicker combination earned the Scots’ lone doubles win against Knox Tuesday, winning 8-4. Individually, each won handily in straight sets at Nos. 1 and 2.

Due to injuries and other circumstances, freshman Nicole Anson has been playing up a spot at No. 3, seniors Sarah McLinden moved from No. 6 to No. 4, Rachel Bognar came from a reserve to play at No. 5 and sophomore Julie Battcher debuted this season at No. 6.

Bognar was ahead vs. Knox when she won by default, tying the match with the Prairie Fire at 4-4.

“Bogie had two solid performances for us,” praised Montgomery. “She played a very solid exhibition match at Lake Forest, the best I’ve seen her play. That continued on to the Knox match and she had a tremendous first set before her opponent defaulted. She has really stepped up her game and it’s nice to see her in the win column.”

In the pivotal No. 3 matchup, Anson was up 5-2 in the first set, but stumbled and lost the opener 7-5. The resilient freshman rebounded with a 6-1 win in the second. Knox took the tie-breaker to win at No. 3 and give the Fire their second win over the Scots this season.

“Nikki struggled in the first set but dominated in the second,” said Montgomery. “She’s been playing up a spot for most of the season and has handled it quite well. She had won at No. 3 the first time we played Knox, but Tuesday it was just a different outcome.”

The Scots are hoping for a different outcome this weekend when they host Beloit during Homecoming Weekend. They’ll tune up for next weekend’s conference championships with matches at Quincy and St. Ambrose next week.

The way Montgomery sees it, it’s all a matter of each individual taking small steps on the long road to team improvements.

COMING ALONG

The men’s soccer team has played hard over the last month and a half, but few goals gave them little to show for their hard work.

The missing offense showed up Monday in a 3-2 loss at Millikin. While it was one in the loss column, the Scots produced multiple goals for the first time since a 3-0 win over Benedictine on Sept. 5.     

“This was a start,” said George Perry of the offensive output. “Eddie (Martinez) got a great feed from Lucas (Knox) after a slip pass from Josh (Del Valle). Eddie took it in from about 25 yards out and calmly finished it.”

Martinez’ first goal of the year in the 17th minute gave the Scots an early lead. The Big Blue answered just eight minutes later and took the lead six minutes after that. A Millikin goal just a minute before half put the Scots in a 3-1 hole.

Monmouth made a dent in the second half with improved play – both defensively and offensively. The Scots allowed just three shots in the second half, and none of them were on goal.

Offensively, the Scots’ offense worked to perfection as Martinez fed Knox.

“We tried to get the ball wide and just drive it,” explained Perry. “We finally got two or three guys in the box. Lucas dived for it and headed it in. That’s the kind of attack we’re working on. We were better offensively in the second half.”

Perry used 17 players in the game and had a young lineup in at the finish. The Scots were able to get off seven shots in the second half and three of those were on goal.

“We had a flurry at the end,” said Perry. “I know we had some shots in the last minute that just came so quickly in such a tight space that there was no way the stats people could keep up.”

Bad for the Scots, the Big Blue players were able to keep up, preventing the Scots from sending it into overtime.

“We just tried to get the guys to find feet with the ball,” explained Perry of the improved second half. “We started to execute the way we had trained, and we have trained very well. We just have to bring it over to the game as well.”

The Scots faced an aggressive Grinnell squad last Saturday. Single Pioneer goals in the first and second halves evened Monmouth’s conference mark to 1-1.

“They sent the ball up to their forwards and outran us,” reported Perry. “I thought we did a nice job in the second half of creating some better chances to score. We definitely played better over the final 45 minutes.”

Perry will be looking for better play over the full 90 minutes this weekend when the team travels north to meet Ripon – currently fifth in MWC play – Saturday and league favorite Carroll on Sunday.

“We’ve got every opportunity to get to the final four like we’re hoping to,” said Perry. “We only have conference games left, so every game is important to us. Every team is capable of beating the other team. We’re at Ripon first so we’ll see if we can continue to play our game. If we play like we train, we should be OK.”

Sunday, the Scots will play on the artificial surface at Carroll and Perry will take advantage of the new FieldTurf at Monmouth.

“We’ll get out and practice on our turf at the football field some before we head north,” said Perry. “The ball will arrive a little faster and won’t slow down as much on the hard passes. That’s the big difference on turf.”

One other difference the Scot would like to see – more offense and more wins.

A LINK(S) TO THE FUTURE

Like the women, the men’s golf team wrapped up their fall season this week.

Like the women, they traveled north. Unlike the women, the men traveled to Dearborn, Mich., for the annual Red Poling Classic. No conference championship was on the line, but coach Dave Ragone expects the fall season to have some ramifications in the spring.

“Right now, we have eight to 10 guys who are in the running,” said Ragone of his prospects for the Varsity team. “It’s my job in the spring to sort it out and come up with our top five or six guys.”

The Classic really didn’t separate anyone – the five Scots shot between 79 and 82 for the 18-hole event at the TPC of Dearborn to card a 324 and place fourth.

“The conditions were nearly ideal,” reported Ragone. “We shot a 318 last year, so the 324 was somewhat disappointing. We expect to be in the 310 area regardless of the course. Now we need to gear up for the spring.”

Rodney Clayton led the way, tying for 10th. His 79 was just five strokes out of the lead. Ryan Tapscott tied for 19th with an 81 and the final returner of the group – Ted Starkey – checked in with an 82 to tie for 23rd. Freshman Brandon Kemmerling and junior Joe Hoffman – seeing his first significant action – also carded 82s.

“Joe was all-state in Kansas,” said Ragone. “He’s having a very good fall and is playing up to his potential. Brandon has just been outstanding. It will make for a lot of competition this spring.”

Clayton, Tapscott and Starkey should be used to the competition, after all, they were on last year’s national qualifying team. That still doesn’t mean they’re taking a spot for granted.

“Rodney has been playing practically nonstop since February,” said Ragone. “The time off over the winter will do him some good and get him rested up. Tappy has had a solid fall, and Ted is coming back from an injury, so we expect all three of them to be even better in the spring.”

Let’s do the math. Over the fall season, Clayton leads with a 77.5 stroke average, Tapscott checks in at 79.5 and Starkey is right behind with an 80. If these guys are even better in the spring, the Scots may well prove true Ragone’s favorite saying – “Competition breeds excellence.”

Or as Bill and Ted – those two wonders of 1989 cinema – would say, “EXCELLENT!”

Whoa, dude.

CONFERENCE HONORS

Football
Freshman kicker Matt Batton (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) had a day to remember in Saturday’s 59-0 win over Grinnell and earned his first Midwest Conference Special Teams Performer of the Week honor.

Batton, a backup kicker, came on in the second half to handle the kickoff chores and averaged more than 60-yards per kick, but the highlight came on offense. Kicking into a rainy cross wind, Batton nailed a school-record 51-yard field goal with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter. The kick easily surpassed the 46-yard record of current Fighting Scots kicking coach Nate Palkovic set just two years ago.

Cross Country
Leading from start-to-finish at last weekend’s Olde English Classic Invitational in Beloit, Wis., resulted in Monmouth College’s Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and Geoff Bird (Kenilworth, Ill.) earning this week’s Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor in women’s and men’s cross country, respectively.

The Olde English course layout included jumps over straw bales and three creek jumps, making for a slower course than the teams were accustomed to. That didn’t seem to hurt Beyer or Bird who both finished just ahead of a teammate.

Beyer clocked a 5,000-meter time of 19:43.8, setting a Monmouth record for the course. Even with the slower course layout, Beyer’s time is the seventh-fastest in the Midwest Conference for the 5K distance. She finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of teammate Katie Staab in second place, as the Fighting Scots took the women’s team title.

Bird completed the 8,000-meter course in 27:06.0, just ahead of teammate Jon Welty and nearly 30 seconds ahead of his next competitor. Led by Bird, Monmouth also won the men’s team title.

HALL OF FAMERS

      On Saturday, Oct. 10, four former Fighting Scots athletes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The ceremony, held in the Huff Athletic Center will begin at 8:30 a.m. Scots Scoop concludes it profiles of these athletes this week with Michael Blaesing and Dwayne Hughes.

Michael Blaesing ‘96
More often than not, Michael Blaesing could be found on base during his Fighting Scots diamond career.

While hitting an impressive .411 over four years, the three-time first team All-Midwest Conference pick also walked 83 times, giving him a staggering career on-base percentage of .515. His 49 runs scored in 1994 were a school record.

Blaesing not only set the table, but he could also clear it. He blasted 12 career homers and 39 doubles, posting a slugging percentage of .620. The shortstop/third baseman drove in 98 runs and had 160 hits in 117 career games, helping the Scots reach the MWC playoffs all four years. With Blaesing in the lineup, Monmouth won one league title and placed second twice.

Blaesing doubled as a steady guard on the basketball team, scoring 441 career points, including a 10.2 average his senior year, when he was named first team all-conference.

 Dwayne Hughes '87
At the professional level, Lawrence Taylor revolutionized the linebacker position in the 1980s. At Monmouth College, it was Dwayne Hughes who led the revolution.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder had a combination of speed (4.85 in the 40-yard dash) and strength (400-pound bench press, 700-pound squat lift) that had rarely been seen in the Midwest Conference to that point. Consequently, Hughes had little trouble shedding 270-pound opposing linemen, posting 97 tackles his senior season and earning second team Associated Press All-American honors. He led a Monmouth defense that yielded just 60 points in nine games, a mark second only to that year’s national champion. The most points scored in a game against the Scots that year was 16, and the defense allowed only six touchdowns all season. Monmouth’s 8-1 record was its best in more than a decade.

Hughes, who prepped at Georgetown High School, was named an All-MWC linebacker three consecutive years.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Oct. 9
Volleyball – hosts Lawrence, 7:00 pm

 Sat., Oct. 10
Hall of Fame Induction – Huff Athletic Center, 8:30 am
Women’s Soccer – at Ripon, 11:00 am
Football – hosts St. Norbert, 1:00 pm
Volleyball – hosts St. Norbert, 1:00 pm
Men’s Soccer – at Ripon, 1:30 p.m.
Women’s Tennis – hosts Beloit, 2:00 pm 

Sun., Oct. 11
Women’s Soccer – at Carroll, 11:00 am
Men’s Soccer – at Carroll, 1:30 pm 

Mon., Oct. 12
Women’s Tennis – at Quincy, Noon 

Wed., Oct. 14
Women’s Tennis – at St. Ambrose, 4:00 pm

 SCOTSIVATIONAL

“The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.” – Martin Luther King Jr.